GAINING PERSPECTIVE ON THE DRUG CULTURE

There is no simple answer to dealing with the challenges faced by addicted
intravenous drug users in downtown Victoria.

What is clear, however, is that Greater Victoria residents want to help
find solutions to the growing problems in the Capital Region's downtown core.

That much has been evident from the number and varied frames of reference
of the people attending film-maker Nettie Wild's documentary about drug use
on Vancouver's Downtown East Side, Fix: The Story of an Addicted City, and
the discussion forums immediately following the film over the past week at
Victoria's Odeon Theatre.

The questions have frequently been straight and to the point.

"How does the needle exchange work", asks one audience member, on a night
when employees of the AIDS Vancouver Island-sponsored facility were on hand.

"It used to be zero for four, meaning you can come in with nothing and get
four rigs," says worker Jess Thornbury. "Now it's one for one or nothing
for one."

Her next line paints a grim picture of what life can be like for a junkie.

She says people can also do exchanges with needles they find on the street.

On the screen, people have witnessed such graphic scenes as a young woman
lying on top of a cardboard box in a back alley while a friend tries for
what seems like forever to find a usable vein in her neck to inject heroin.

Looking around, it's hard to tell who in the audience might be a user.
Current or former users often say that looks can be deceiving -- you might
never know that a co-worker or someone who serves you at the bank or the
grocery store has an addiction problem.

The mix on hand for the screenings has ranged from spiky-haired youth to
button-down middle aged people and many in between. Relatively few people
left the theatre immediately following the film.

Most of the guest speakers admitted the situation in Vancouver is far worse
than Victoria, if only based on the volume of addicts.

Outreach worker Kim Toombs from AIDS Vancouver Island's needle exchange
gave some insight into the scope of Victoria's problem when she estimated
that the service accepts 40 new clients a month and now lists between 500
and 600 active clients.

"One thing I've noticed is that there are a lot more young people and
they're getting younger," she said.

Thornbury, herself a recovering addict, said that about 60,000 needles are
given out per month in Victoria.

Dr. Perry Kendall, the province's chief medical health officer, confirmed
that Greater Victoria's rates of HIV/AIDS (25-30 per cent) and hepatitis C
(85-90 per cent) among IV drug users parallel the rates of Vancouver.

Toombs said studies she has read state that IV drug users contract Hep C or
HIV between three and six months after they start using. "Hep C is going to
be the killer, man," said Dean Wilson, the central heroin-addicted figure
in the film and a vocal advocate for VANDU (Vancouver Area Network of Drug
Users).

He noted that people who contract hepatitis tend to live longer than those
with AIDS. Noting that between 40,000 and 50,000 people in B.C. have Hep C
- -- far more than the 8,000 or so who have AIDS -- he foresees health care
costs skyrocketing in the next 10-20 years.

A large crowd Tuesday peppered Wilson and Kendall with questions, many
related to the B.C. government's welfare cuts and how they might affect
hard-core IV drug users.

Kendall, despite his position, seemed very at ease with the discussions. He
ventured that there is "a good chance we can get addictions recognized as a
disability" and have the accompanying benefits available while an
individual is pursuing treatment. Which brings the discussion to the topic
of safe injection sites, the end goal of the people in the movie.

Wilson admitted that the sites can't in and of themselves cure people from
their addictions.

"It's all about building relationships," he said, noting that many things
contribute to an addicted person's situation, such as housing, poverty and
personal background.

"What it does is it gets them through the door and it gets us talking to
health professionals to help them with where they have to go next," he said.

Housing and poverty are issues for many addicted people, noted Wilson. He
said figures from detox services show that 30 per cent of people come out
of the 30-day program and go back to living on the street while another 30
per cent go back to unsafe housing.

Another issue that arose was junkies' access to appropriate health care.
Wilson said an estimated 80 per cent of hard-core drug users, for various
reasons, never access the system the way most people do.

Kendall agreed that having all health care professionals -- physicians,
mental health workers and counsellors, for example -- on the same page is
crucial if any system for cleaning up the problems is going to work.

He stopped short of saying more money is needed to solve the problem. "I
think we've got to get the treatment system working better with what we
have before we start throwing money at the problem."

Victoria Coun. Charlayne Thornton-Joe has seen the movie several times and
has attended more than half a dozen forums. She said it is crucial that she
gain a clear understanding of the picture before she makes any decisions on
where she stands on the issues.

"It's helping, because like Nettie, I had very little knowledge before of
the drug culture," she said. "I feel it can only benefit me and the
community if I'm more informed, especially if I get different perspectives."

Thornton-Joe also recognizes that there are at least two sides to this
issue. "I understand the business concerns but I also see the social
concerns as well and I think the film gives that perspective," she said.

"I think before you can make decisions and make changes, you have to be
aware of what you're dealing with."

Thornton-Joe admits that the film, while graphic in its portrayal of active
drug users, is actually somewhat tamer than what she and fellow Victoria
councillors Dean Fortin and Chris Coleman saw during a tour of the Downtown
East Side this year.